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Not to get all RDP here, but the fact that Tanaka is an excellent, exciting new (to MLB) pitcher is interesting. A flukish run of a basically irrelevant stat is pretty much just a curiosity.

In substance you're right, but from a marketing POV it's certainly a fluke that's definitely worth highlighting. What's really kind of neat is that he lost game 6 of the Japanese World Series last year, and then came back in relief to win game 7.

The strike out rate is surprising since the scouting report on him seemed to suggest he profiled more as a #2 Dan Haren type and his k totals in Japan weren't crazy off the charts. Last night, he didn't even seem to have his best stuff and still managed to give them a very good start. Very encouraging beginning to his career.

A flukish run of a basically irrelevant stat is pretty much just a curiosity.

It's not an irrelevant stat (that would be something like WPA) it's an overrated stat, and probably not even as good of a stat as quality starts, but this is making news because he's been pretty lights out for the team, regardless of whether he's acquiring wins or not. He's allowed no more than 3 runs in any of his starts, has good peripherals (46k/ 6bb in 35 ip, .925 whip)

Obviously he's not going to go all season without a loss, but in conjuction with his performance last year, it's a nice bit of trivia.

The strike out rate is surprising since the scouting report on him seemed to suggest he profiled more as a #2 Dan Haren type and his k totals in Japan weren't crazy off the charts. Last night, he didn't even seem to have his best stuff and still managed to give them a very good start. Very encouraging beginning to his career.

The league hasn't seen him yet, so the first time around they're all flailing at that slider and and splitter that just falls off the table. (He made Trout look very, very bad last night swinging at one that bounced so far off the plate Trout would have needed a telephone pole to reach it.) Maybe the K rate drops a bit in the next few years, but he doesn't look like a guy who's afraid to challenge batters and with a 2-strike count guys are still going to be swinging and missing at that split.

The strike out rate is surprising since the scouting report on him seemed to suggest he profiled more as a #2 Dan Haren type and his k totals in Japan weren't crazy off the charts. Last night, he didn't even seem to have his best stuff and still managed to give them a very good start. Very encouraging beginning to his career.

I may be getting this wrong, but last night they showed a stat that said his percentage of pitches in the strike zone is among the worst (bottom four, I think) in baseball among qualifiers, but he has the best chase rate in the game, which explains all the strikeouts so far. At some point you'd think hitters will adjust and start laying off the splitter, at least early in the count. The Angels had a really hard time laying off it last night.

His stats are certainly very impressive, and I think the only dwindling hope for him to become a bust is that he is so dependent the splitter.

The rest of his repertoire looks pretty ordinary, and nearly half of his K’s have come on the splitter, which he throws 20% of the time. He has a ridiculous 37% whiff rate on that pitch, and he throws it out of the strike zone 75% of the time.

I have no idea whether it can be picked up and game planned for, but if for whatever reason, if a team faces him a second time and does a better job picking up the splitter, I think he’s a very hittable pitcher. Easier said than done, of course, especially since Tanaka doesn’t need pinpoint command of the splitter on any given day for it to be effective.

The rest of his repertoire looks pretty ordinary, and nearly half of his K’s have come on the splitter, which he throws 20% of the time. He has a ridiculous 37% whiff rate on that pitch, and he throws it out of the strike zone 75% of the time.

If you watch him, it's easy to see why. The movement on his ball is ridiculous. His slider bends left, his change (or is that a true screwball?) fades right, the split dives, and he's got two different fastballs. Nothing he throws seems to spend much time on the plate, but they're all close enough that if a batter's already got a strike, he may not want to chance taking another one and staring at strike two. Plus, even if the pitch is hittable, those pitches have to be hell to square up on.

God, it really bothers you that the Yankees came up with a good one, doesn't it? It's funny how much you wish Tanaka to suck.

In all fairness I find this wishcasting far more palatable than the overt hoping for Yankee players to suffer horrible injury that is commonly encountered around the more fetid Yankee-hating corners of the internet. Haters gonna hate, that's inarguable calculus, but wishing injury on any person for the sin of associating with the most popular and successful franchise in all of sports is pathetic even for the losers who revel in their hatred of the Yankees.

As it is for all players the second time around the league will be telling for Tanaka. The fact that he gets better the second time through the order then better than that the third time through suggests that guys aren't figuring him out too quickly. Still, a book will get out on him, he'll get knocked around a bit then he'll either adapt or he won't. So far he has looked very very impressive though. That K/BB rate is something else. I think he's for real.

People have different reasons for wanting players to succeed or fail. I would like to see Tanaka succeed simply because I root for all Japanese players in MLB, regardless of what team they play for. I'm not a Yankees fan, but I want to see Tanaka (and Kuroda and Ichiro) play well.

As Amado Samuel Clemens once said…“Many an Aaron Small thing has been made large by the right kind of advertising.”

My guess is that you can attribute any quotation to Mark Twain, so this gives Repoz the freedom is paraphrase a quote that doesn't necessarily exist but is banal and cliched enough that it sounds like a bit of wisdom. There is the obvious play on Aaron Small-- the ultimate smoke and mirrors success story-- and Repoz's abiding hatred of all things Yankee-related ("I don't need this corporation attitude!"). The peculiar thing is the link to Amado. Is it an intentional mis-spelling of Amaro and then are we supposed to make a connection to the poorly-regarded Ruben's general managing skills?

Re #15: The Yankees lost to the O's on April 9th, but what does the two runs that Shawn Kelley gave up in the 9th have to do with Tanaka?

What did Tanaka have to do with Texieras HR last night? Tanaka was already done and left the game, he never pitched with a lead and threw his last pitch while still losing.

Pitchers don't win games, teams win games, and arbitrary scoring rules give some pitcher credit for a team accomplishment. I can applaud Tanaka for an amazing stretch of dominance without using a misleadingly bad stat to justify my applause.

I can applaud Tanaka for an amazing stretch of dominance without using a misleadingly bad stat to justify my applause.

In that case, you shouldn't write things like "He's not undefeated, he lost to the Orioles on April 9th, just as he lost starts last year (first one April 16th to SoftBank)." Tanaka didn't lose those starts, his team did.

Not to pile on, but that was exactly my point. You are the one who said he lost. I think the win is a pretty useless statistic to judge individual performance, but there are in fact criteria for wins in losses. You can ignore them (that is my choice), but if you just make up your own rules, people are probably going to call you on that.

His stats are certainly very impressive, and I think the only dwindling hope for him to become a bust is that he is so dependent the splitter.

The rest of his repertoire looks pretty ordinary, and nearly half of his K’s have come on the splitter, which he throws 20% of the time. He has a ridiculous 37% whiff rate on that pitch, and he throws it out of the strike zone 75% of the time.

I've seen him a few times this season, once live, and he has really good control. As in pinpoint. Right now he's carrying a nice 7.67 K/W ratio.
Mix in changing speeds, being able to paint corners,always getting ahead in the count, no fear of throwing strikes and/or hitting spots and that hellish slider and that's a nasty combination to face.
The guy can pitch, and as a Sox fan, you have no idea how much that hurts to say